Mark Zuckerberg

Facebook was supposed to soar. Instead, it plunged. After the social network's stock fizzled on Friday in its long-awaited debut, its stock fell 11 percent on Monday, even as the rest of the stock market rallied. The downward spiral has left some people sitting on big losses, and others scratching their heads. After all, nothing fundamental has changed at Facebook in the days since the much-hyped company came to the stock market — Facebook still has more than 900 million users, its 28-year-old founder Mark Zuckerberg controls the company, and it is still one of the few...

NEW YORK — Facebook was supposed to soar. Instead, it plunged. After the social network's stock fizzled Friday in its long-awaited debut, its stock fell 11 percent Monday, even as the rest of the stock market rallied. The downward spiral has left some people sitting on big losses, and others scratching their heads. After all, nothing fundamental has changed at Facebook in the last week since the much-hyped company came to the stock market — Facebook still has more than 900 million users, its 28-year-old founder Mark Zuckerberg controls the company, and it is still one of the few...

Don't try to friend MaLi Arwood on Facebook. You won't find her there. You won't find Thomas Chin, either. Or Kariann Goldschmitt. Or Jake Edelstein. More than 900 million people worldwide check their Facebook accounts at least once a month, but millions more are Facebook holdouts. They say they don't want Facebook. They insist they don't need Facebook. They say they're living life just fine without the long-forgotten acquaintances that the world's largest social network sometimes resurrects.

Facebook was supposed to soar. Instead, it plunged. After the social network's stock fizzled on Friday in its long-awaited debut, its stock fell 11 percent on Monday, even as the rest of the stock market rallied. The downward spiral has left some people sitting on big losses, and others scratching their heads. After all, nothing fundamental has changed at Facebook in the days since the much-hyped company came to the stock market — Facebook still has more than 900 million users, its 28-year-old founder Mark Zuckerberg controls the company, and it is still one of the few...

When Hollywood set out to tell the story of how Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook, it enjoyed the flexibility of portraying a man who, despite his social network's worldwide reach, was all but unknown to the public. A year and half later, the movie "The Social Network" and the attention that followed have dispelled much of the mystery surrounding Zuckerberg, sketching out the essentials of his story line. But as Facebook promotes the vision of its 28-year-old CEO as part of this week's first-ever sale of stock to the public, one of the most striking features of his persona is the...

EDITOR'S NOTE — Facebook began selling stock to the public Friday in the most talked-about market debut in years. The stock closed 23 cents above its initial offering price, at $38.23. Two Associated Press business writers debate whether the stock is a smart buy. PRESS THE 'LIKE' BUTTON, SOON By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer SAN FRANCISCO — I doubted Mark Zuckerberg when I met him more than five years ago, shortly after he rebuffed several chances to sell Facebook for what was a fortune even then.

He famously wears a hoodie, jeans and sneakers, and he was born the year Apple introduced the Macintosh. But Mark Zuckerberg is no boy-CEO. Facebook's chief executive turned 28 on Monday, setting in motion the social network's biggest week ever. The company is expected to start selling stock to the public for the first time and begin trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market on Friday. The IPO could value Facebook at nearly $100 billion, making it worth more than such iconic companies as Disney, Ford and Kraft Foods.

This week's Facebook IPO, already the gravy train for an army of lawyers and bankers, will reportedly transform a thousand Facebook employees into overnight millionaires. In all likelihood, few of these soon-to-be tycoons realize they owe a great deal of thanks to Harvard University for their newfound wealth. What did Harvard do? Nothing. Rather, it's something the school didn't do: claim Facebook for itself. You see, Harvard University could have asserted a stronger claim to the company than the Winklevoss twins and Paul Ceglia combined.

Mark Zuckerberg "likes" Boston. While the Facebook cofounder fled the Hub for Silicon Valley after being spurned by a local venture capitalist in 2004, Zuckerberg recently told an audience at Stanford University that if he could do it over again, he'd keep his social network where he started it, here in the Boston area. The comment was a boon for the city's high-tech innovation community, which has grown significantly since "Zuck," its patron saint, launched Facebook from a Harvard dorm room.

Mark Zuckerberg is selling 30.2 million shares as part of Facebook Inc.'s initial public offering of stock. With shares priced at $38 each, he's receiving $1.15 billion. Even after the IPO, Zuckerberg remains Facebook's single largest shareholder. He owns 503.6 million Class B shares after the offering, or 32 percent of Facebook's total shares. At the $38 share price, his stake in the company is worth $19.1 billion. Zuckerberg will control the company with 56 percent of its voting stock as a result of agreements he has with other shareholders who promise to vote his way. Here...

EDITOR'S NOTE — Facebook began selling stock to the public Friday in the most talked-about market debut in years. The stock closed 23 cents above its initial offering price, at $38.23. Two Associated Press business writers debate whether the stock is a smart buy. PRESS THE 'LIKE' BUTTON, SOON By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer SAN FRANCISCO — I doubted Mark Zuckerberg when I met him more than five years ago, shortly after he rebuffed several chances to sell Facebook for what was a fortune even then.

PALO ALTO, Calif. — Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has updated his status to ‘‘married. " Zuckerberg and 27-year-old Priscilla Chan tied the knot at a small ceremony at his Palo Alto, Calif., home Saturday, capping a busy week for the couple. Zuckerberg took his company public in one of the most anticipated moves in Wall Street history Friday. And Chan graduated from medical school at the University of California, San Francisco, on Monday, the same day Zuckerberg turned 28. The couple met at Harvard and have been together for more than nine years.

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg updated his status to "married" on Saturday. Zuckerberg and 27-year-old Priscilla Chan tied the knot at a small ceremony at his Palo Alto, Calif., home, capping a busy week for the couple, according to a guest authorized to speak for the couple. The person spoke only on the condition of anonymity. Zuckerberg took his company public in one of the most anticipated stock offerings in Wall Street history Friday. And Chan graduated from medical school at the University of California, San Francisco, on Monday, the same day Zuckerberg turned 28,...

Eight years after Facebook Inc. was born in a Harvard University dorm, the social network's stock defied the massive hype surrounding its debut as a public company Friday by hardly rising at all. Launched at an opening price of $38, Facebook shares climbed to $45 in early going on the Nasdaq Stock Market, only to fall quickly and end the day at $38.23, up just six-tenths of a percent. "I think it's a lackluster debut, but not really unexpected," said Josef Schuster, founder of IPOX Schuster LLC, a Chicago trading firm.

EDITOR'S NOTE — Facebook begins selling stock to the public Friday in the most talked-about market debut in years. Two Associated Press business writers are debating whether the stock is a smart buy. I doubted Mark Zuckerberg when I met him more than five years ago, shortly after he rebuffed several chances to sell Facebook for a small fortune. He seemed confident to the point of being cocky about his ability to turn what started as an online hangout for frisky college students into a digital commune for the entire world.

After all the hype, Facebook's first day as a public company ended where it began. Its stock closed at $38.23, up 23 cents, after pricing Thursday night at $38 per share. After an anxiety-filled half-hour delay, its stock began trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market for the first time as investors were finally able to put a dollar value on the company that turned online social networking into a global cultural phenomenon. The stock opened at 11:32 a.m. at $42.05, but soon dipped to $38.01.

Responding to extraordinary demand, Facebook said Wednesday that it would sell more stock in the company's initial public offering. But ahead of the IPO, a debate emerged between two of the nation's largest automakers: Does it pay to advertise on the social network? General Motors, the nation's largest automaker, said it would abandon Facebook ads after concluding they were ineffective. At the same time, Ford reaffirmed its commitment to Facebook, saying their relationship was stronger than ever.

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg updated his status to "married" on Saturday. Zuckerberg and 27-year-old Priscilla Chan tied the knot at a small ceremony at his Palo Alto, Calif., home, capping a busy week for the couple, according to a guest authorized to speak for the couple. The person spoke only on the condition of anonymity. Zuckerberg took his company public in one of the most anticipated stock offerings in Wall Street history Friday. And Chan graduated from medical school at the University of California, San Francisco,...